Magic String
by Miharu is Harukas Love Child 2
Summary: Matt finds a video game with super natural powers. Canonish. M/M. Slight horror/Halloween theme


Magic String

I'd like to say that I was inspired to write this after Reading MRS-Jeevas' _Annals of Fear_, which I must say, is the scariest thing I've ever read, ever. You can find her stuff on adult fan fiction dot org if you're interested.

Special note: The use of the phrase "magic string" here does not in fact refer to a physical string, but rather, in the programming language, a _string _is a sequence of characters that cannot be used like variables to hold information space other than the symbols they refer to. *cough* Google that shit if you need more clarification

* * *

Matt _thought_ he knew what he was doing. He was, after all, the current Wammy's House technology expert. He had even more than his pride on the line if this hack was successful. He wanted to do it not just for himself, but for Mello.

Because damn, Mello deserved his success.

The challenge had been set on the first of October, and the children were given a month to succeed. The winner, or winners in the case of a team effort, would not only meet L in person, but be allowed to solve an L-level case under his name, with his resources.

Somewhere in the house, either in physical or digital space, L had hidden a file containing not only his own birth records, but a collection of case files for every case he'd ever solved in affiliation with Watari. The children had tried everything from blackmailing Roger to pulling out the basement floorboards with hammers in an attempt to find the files. But even with all that effort, no one was close to winning the game. Even Near had announced his withdrawal. It was now October 31st, and time was running out. If there was anyone who could pull it off, it was Matt. Mail Jeevas.

Because Matt was the best, plain and simple. Mello had full confidence in him.

…until a million error messages popped up on the screen and Mello watched the redhead's hands fall to his sides. Mello didn't need Matt to explain to him what was going on. Something had gone wrong with the hack and now Matt's system was being attacked viciously by a Trojan. If you had looked at the gamer's face, you wouldn't have seen anything through the golden tint of his goggles. His lips were immobile. The boy's fingers were another story, however, twisting in almost inhuman contortions as his hands hung on either side of him.  
Mello knew better than to say anything.

So instead the blond wrapped his arms around the other child and squeezed, failing to hide the disappointment in his own voice, "It's okay, Matt. Stupid competition…don't mean shit."

Matt swallowed through Mello's transparent lie and hung his head.

All he wanted was for Mello to be proud of him. Mello deserved so much, and Matt wished he could give his friend everything…and more. How could he ever tell the blond about his feelings for him, if he couldn't even put a smile on his face?

The redhead had been wandering the hallways in abject misery for two hours. He nearly collided with the caretaker.

"Matt, come here please," expressed a concerned Roger.

The boy followed the man into his office where he sat down and quickly averted his eyes to anywhere that wasn't the wrinkled face of Mr. Ruvie.

"Matt. I saw the state of your laptop. Chase brought me to lavatory where you tried to dispose of it…I must say, you of all people should know that you can't flush something that big down a toilet."

Matt let the silence hang in the air. Roger tried to close the distance between them by standing and moving closer. The boy's response was to shrink further into himself.

Rather than prolong the situation, the man simply sighed. "I know it can be stressing, Matt. You're not living the lives of normal children here. We groom you shooting for excellence and you find failure simply incomprehensible. Trust me, you're not the first to hit such a wall. You know, there are some puzzles even L cannot solve."

The boy looked up at the man and began to laugh bitterly, "That's a lie, Roger. It has to be. Because when L fails, the replacement takes over to solve the problem. For all we know, there have been dozens of L's, and you've got orphanages like this planted around the world, switching out person after person just like you'd change oil in a car. We're just pawns in a fucked up experiment, old man. And don't try to convince me otherwise!"

"That's an interesting theory." Said a voice from behind the corner.

Matt was completely startled to find a young man perched in the corner, sitting with his bare feet on the edge of the chair. He'd been so absorbed in his avoid-Roger-routine that he'd completely dismissed the other's presence. Now that he noticed the young man, it was impossible to tear his eyes away from his shabby appearance. He was clothed simply in a white tee and jeans. His dark hair hung in shaggy unkempt layers, framing his sallow face. Matt had never seen someone with such deep bags under their eyes…especially not someone so young!

Roger immediately apologized the young man, "I'm sorry, I thought you had left already. I didn't mean to let you see—"

The young man cut the caretaker off, "That's quite fine Roger. No need to apologize, I remember what it's like living here. Besides, I find it very interesting what this young man here, just said. Imagine the idea of it…groups of people working together under the single visage of a letter. It makes one curious as to what the general masses must think of L."

The man pulled a lollipop out of his pocket and unwrapped it, holding it between his thumb and forefinger as he turned his attention towards Matt, "What is your name?"

"Matt."

"Matt. Don't make the old man's life too much of a hell. He doesn't get paid enough." The man smiled and stood up, "and don't forget, sometimes the most improbable answer is the best solution."

The dark-haired youth hunched his way towards the door, "Now Roger, I must be taking my leave soon, but I do believe I was promised a piece of cake. It _is_ my birthday, after all…"

Roger rose to escort the man out of his office. Matt watched them, and as they left, the young man tossed his lollipop across the room, hitting a certain one of Roger's file cabinets. The elder man didn't seem to notice, and the pair exited.

Matt looked to where the candy had landed, curiosity overtaking his apathetic state. The adjacent cabinet was locked, so he looked around in Roger's desk for a set of keys that he knew (from past pranks with Mello) was hidden under the flowerpot. The redhead tried several keys until one popped the lock and opened the cabinet. Inside was a box labeled roughly **Unsolved Cases**. Matt pulled the box out and looked through it. There were lots of folders, some unlabeled, some containing zip-lock baggies of evidence. He pulled out a particularly thick folder with a rather eye-catching title.

"Deadly Supernatural Artifacts," he read aloud.

There were several things in the folder, each zip-locked into their own bag. Matt wanted to laugh at some of the objects, which included a toothbrush and a pair of shoelaces. _These were murder weapons?_

But one object really caught Matt's attention. There was a single unlabeled gaming cartridge in the corner. He lifted it out of the folder and turned it between his fingers. It looked old, possibly for an early model Gameboy, but he couldn't be sure because the shape of the cartridge was slightly warped.

_Click_

Matt hear the door knob turn and hastily threw the box and files back into the cabinet, shoving it closed. He slipped the game cartridge into his jeans pocket just as Roger walked back in.

"Matt, have you been rifling through my files?" Roger set one hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow at the boy.

Matt swallowed, "Yeah. I have. Here are your keys."

He tossed them to the old man, "I thought maybe you were hiding L's files here, so I took a look. Didn't find anything."

Roger shook his head and told Matt to stay out of trouble, and to do something fun to take his mind off the pressures of L's contest. He also warned that Matt would be severely punished if he was ever again caught trying to look through Roger's files.

"M'kay, see you later Roger!"

Matt ran out of the office and headed straight for his room on the second floor.

He had a new game to try.

He looked through his collection of handhelds, tossing his DS and PSP onto the growing pile on his bed. He had several models of each edition and was sure that somewhere he could find the one that fit the cartridge. He tried it in several of his old Gameboys but the shape was still off. Frustrated, he looked over it for some kind of clue to what console it belonged to. There was a tiny screw in one corner that he hadn't noticed upon initial inspection. It was tiny, and the shape was three-pronged like a 'Y', so it wouldn't take a normal shaped screwdriver. Luckily, Matt had a set of screws just like that. He pulled one out of his tool set and set to work on the game. He found three more of those screws in odd spots around the game and unscrewed them all. When he was finished, the outer casing completely came off, revealing a smaller chip that was the proper shape for his Gameboy Nano.

The smaller chip was unlabeled like the first. Matt slid put it into his handheld and turned the power on, curious for the title screen to show up. Instead, a question popped up on the screen.

**Would You like to play?**

Matt selected the option for yes and the letters on the screen began to swirl around and were eventually replaced by a highly pixilated little world. He had a movable sprite character but no option to name it. About ten minutes into the story mode's progression, he got some strange items…a magic potion, a book, and a key. He still couldn't tell why kind of game it was, though. There didn't seem to be much context to anything; Matt couldn't even frame what time period the characters were from. Then randomly, a dragon appeared out of nowhere and ate his sprite. The screen played a quick game over tune and flashed another option.

**Level failed. Try again?**

"This shit is bogus." Matt said and selected no.

Then the screen displayed yet another option.

**Would you like to enter a cheat code?**

This…was a little weird. The hell? He couldn't even figure out how the play the damned shit and it was asking him for a cheat code? It gave him the option of inputting a string to the display screen, so he did, just the hell of it.

"Alright," the gamer said to no one in particular, "What the fuck ever! How's this for a cheat code?"

He typed, quite literally, the stupidest and lamest code he could think of. S-K-I-P-L-E-V-E-L

Matt clicked enter and waited for something to happen. The screen's pixels began to spin rapidly, dizzyingly so, and Matt had to turn away. Strange music began to play and he felt very dizzy.

He couldn't understand why his body felt so strange. There was a tingly feeling throughout his nerves and then pain, like being punched in the navel.

The game slipped out of Matt's fingers as everything went black.

Matt opened his eyes to the somber shrouding of nightfall. He shifted slightly up in the bed, utterly bewildered. Only a moment before, he had been tinkering with the mysterious game cartridge, but now…

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as they adjusted to the lack of luminosity. The creaking of another body startled him. Recognition hit Matt with full force as he realized that he wasn't in his room. Furthermore, he was in Mello's room. In Mello's bed.

Naked.

Was he dreaming? Matt tried his best to assess the situation, but the surge of adrenaline was making it hard to form coherent thoughts. He could feel Mello's naked body against his, the warmth spreading like a small flame throughout his entire body. The boy didn't know if he should laugh or cry. He had no idea how he'd ended up in that position, but while it was novel, it was far from unwelcome. But as the initial shock wore away, Matt was torn between excitement and disappointment at not remembering anything. He tossed the comforter up, letting the cold air slap his and Mello's skin. The blond instinctively clutched at the redhead to conserve body heat.

"...Mmm…Matt?" he mumbled.

Matt took advantage of Mello's partial consciousness to slide his fingers across the soft stretch of exposed skin and pressed his lips against the others. Mello's grogginess disappeared immediately and he responded with enthusiasm, licking Matt's mouth in return.

When the two broke apart, Mello gasped, "Thank the God you don't believe in, Matt. I'm rarely in such a good mood when my sleep's interrupted."

"Mello?"

"Nnn?"

"What do you say we make use of being awake, hnn?"

Even in the darkness, Mello's eyes sparkled with mischief and he nodded, descending on Matt's body.

He still couldn't figure out _how_ he ended up with his hands wrapped around the other, or how it came to be that he could suddenly touch Mello to his lust's content, but as Mello pressed his lips against his newly-formed erection, Matt decided he could save thinking for another time.

Because Mello's tongue was a lot more important.

"Holy shit, where'd you learn to _do_ that?!"

* * *

Matt spent the next few days going over the facts, analyzing the shit out of his actions and behavior. While he initially thought he'd had a blackout spanning several hours, reality was much stranger. There was a two week gap between his memory of playing the blank cartridge game and waking up in Mello's room. Two entire weeks completely unaccounted for! There was only one explanation, really, but he didn't like it one bit.

As far as he could tell, the only parallel event that connected the two periods of consciousness was…that damn game.

Matt stared at it, rolling it over between his fingers. It didn't make sense. _Skip level?_ Life wasn't a game. It was impossible to skip parts of it…wasn't it?

_Wasn't it?_

Matt would be damned if there _wasn't_ another explanation.

But he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the game had something to do with it. He had to test it…for…science…some shit like that.

Matt remembered about the dark-haired man he'd seen in Roger's office and how the man had thrown his lollipop at the very file cabinet where the game had been…as if he was daring Matt to find, to test it, to learn about its secrets…

He put the cartridge in his gaming system again and turned the power on, and went through the same game experience before that ended in a dragon eating him. When prompted, he again typed S-K-I-P-L-E-V-E-L as a cheat code.

…and slipped out of consciousness once more.

Matt blinked and found himself in the middle of a classroom, surrounded by the furious scribbling of his classmates. He was sitting at a desk with a pencil in his hand and his goggles pushed far up on his head. Before him was a test paper, he glanced at it…some open-ended essay question about the connection between neural network systems and how connectivists use the brain model to create algorithms in artificial intelligence systems.

Matt's heart began to race a little…could…could it be that he actually traveled through time?

He was almost afraid to, but he looked up at the board to see the date…which said January 10th.

Matt froze. The time difference was much larger this time…He wasn't sure whether he should be amazed or scared shitless…on the other hand…it meant…he never had to live through anything unpleasant again if he could just…_skip a level_.

Matt ignored the exam, reached into his pocket, and turned the power on.

* * *

The air was steamy and Matt could hear water running. He was in a bathroom with Mello, who was pouring liquids into a shampoo bottle.

"Roger's gonna freak when he sees his newly-dyed purple hair!"

Matt's eyes widened. They were in Roger's private bathroom!

_Click_

Mello froze as they heard the door turning.

"Quick! Hide!"

Mello threw the shampoo bottle in the shower and shoved Matt behind the giant window curtain just as Roger walked into the bathroom. They could hear him as he hummed to himself and turned the water on, presumably removing his clothing before stepping into the shower to further prune his wrinkly body.  
Matt was quite comfortable with Mello's proximity and inched even closer, linking his fingers through the other's. Mello just smiled really wide and snuggled closer to Matt.

And then Roger killed the moment by singing.

Loudly.

Off key.

"It's raining men! Hallelujah! It's raining men! Amen!"

The boys couldn't contain themselves any longer. They burst out laughing. Matt's legs tangled in Mello's and they fell forward, yanking the curtain down and startling Roger, who screamed. When the boys looked up, their eyes met the most horrific sight: Roger's wet, wrinkled, aged penis.

...three screams filled the air.

* * *

Matt found himself _skipping levels_ quite often…when he was in trouble, when he and Mello were fighting, when life seemed difficult…when he was bored. Pretty soon he was playing with the game cartridge for the hell of it.

Christmas.

Birthdays.

...he...couldn't...even...keep...track...

* * *

Matt gasped. He was lying in a bed. Everything was painfully white. White, white, white. White walls, white sheets, blinding bright lights. His head hurt and his body felt numb. His head was groggy.

Too much white.

"Matt! You're awake, thank God!"

The redhead registered a pair of pigtails as the owner of the voice flung her arms around him, squeezing his ribs and all the oxygen from his system.

"C...can't...breathe..."

She released him, "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. I'm just so glad to see you awake. Roger'll be ecstatic. Now, don't panic Matt, but...you've been in a coma for three months."

Th...three _months_? Matt didn't know what to say.

Linda jumped up and rushed to get him some water, "You probably feel stiff from lying in bed so long. Everyone's been so worried about you since your breakdown. Is there anything you'd like me to get you? Anything at all?"

Matt didn't know what to say. He'd had a breakdown? What the fuck had happened to him?

"Mello. I'd like to see Mello, please."

Linda pursed her lips like she wanted to cry, "Matt, stop it. That's how you got sick in the first place, trying to deny reality. Mello left two years ago. When Kira killed L. You know that. Stop…stop messing around like that, you're scaring me."

Matt began to panic. He ripped the IV from his arm and tried to stand. His legs couldn't take it and he nearly collapsed.

"Matt! Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!"

Tears were streaming down his face, "No! I won't accept it!"

When Matt's body was stable enough that he could walk on his own, the first thing he did was find the game.

And he entered a new string for a cheat code: F-I-N-D-M-E-L-L-O

* * *

The air was thick with smoke. His instinct was to drop to the floor. Even with his goggles, Matt had a hard time seeing through all the fallen planks of wood. The building, it looked like a warehouse, was on fire. He crawled his way around, looking for an exit, trying not to panic and failing miserably. It was a dizzying blur, trying to navigate through the debris.

As Matt made his way through, he saw, or rather _smelled_ burning bodies of dead men. He threw up all over the floor as the stench filled his nostrils and penetrated all his senses. Matt stopped thinking, moving by survival instincts alone. Until he saw a masked figure staggering in the corner.

With the stance of a panther sheathed in a tight glove of leather, stood Mello. Taller, more lithe, and dripping in blood, screaming as flames danced across the golden tresses of his hair and the defined features of his face.

Matt threw himself at the other, whose eyes widened in shock. Mello threw the mask off his face as Matt tackled him to the floor and they both rolled, putting out the flames that were eating at Mello's skin. Hand in hand, they crawled through the building until they found the emergency exit and the stairs. Matt didn't lessen his grip on Mello's hand, even when they had to jump through a wall of flame to get to the stairs. They ran and ran, as much as they could, away from the fire, neither understanding anything but the feeling of the other's fingers.

At length, Mello couldn't move anymore and collapsed, coughing and crying and smearing blood across Matt, who had his fair share of cuts and injuries.

"It's really you." The blond breathed. "I thought you were a hallucination. A devil come to fetch me for my sins."

Both men cried into each other as they staggered away to find somewhere to rest.

Matt didn't know, didn't want to understand anything this time, except for the warmth of Mello's body against his own.

The only thing he knew for sure was that if it was going to cost him Mello, he never wanted to touch that damned game ever again.

* * *

The game had more of a hold on Matt than he could ever realize. He found himself trying to get rid of it, trying to destroy it. If he threw it away, it would somehow appear in his pocket. He tried melting it, crushing it, burning it with acid. He even tried to shoot a hole in it with Mello's gun.

Bitch wouldn't die.

And he couldn't stop playing.

He couldn't.

He tried.

Working on the Kira case was simply too maddening not to take advantage of the game's powers, _especially_ when Mello had him watching video feeds of that damned Misa Amane. Matt couldn't take it. As he sat in the warehouse, the only thing that he knew for certain was that his whole life had blurred by. He didn't know anything about what had happened over the last few years...couldn't name the people he'd been with, couldn't detail his accomplishments. He didn't even know how he'd found Mello in the burning Mafia hideout.

He didn't even know why Mello would have left Wammy's without him.

Even with full consciousness, it like...he only knew glimpses of his own life.

Matt learned the hard way, the true evils of the game. It was a killer, but not in the conventional sense. He'd let it steal his precious memories, and had no idea how to get them back..but the more he thought about it, the harder it was to get away. He'd play just to run away from his own depressed mindset, which only furthered the cycle.

One second, he was eating instant ramen in a crappy East LA motel 6 and the next, he was diverting Takada's bodyguards away from the Teito hotel in Tokyo. His mind went into autopilot as he spun his way through the streets, not knowing how or when he'd even gotten a driver's license. The bastards cornered him and his car spun wildly in a circle before he came to a halt.

Matt stepped out of the car, a single cigarette hanging from his lips and he spoke to the men. He didn't even know what he was saying, he just spoke, tried to distract them and buy enough time to reach for the game.

...but the bullets were faster.

As Matt's lifeless body slumped where it stood, his handheld slipped from his pocket, slamming to the asphalt.

Through the crack in the LCD display, one phrase flashed in a never ending loop:

**GAME OVER**

**GAME OVER**

**GAME OVER**

* * *

So what do you think?


End file.
